While some of you are highly awaiting the Transformers sequel, there's a Summer blockbuster that makes yours truly, to quote another box office success, throw up in his mouth a bit. Of course, we're talking about an extravagant sale of Kaka from Milan to Real Madrid for a "tepid" 59 million pounds (that's $97 million US) and then today (in fact, late Wednesday evening here in the States), a year's worth of transfer drama culminated in rather anticlimactic fashion with Manchester United finally sending away Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid for a whopping 80 million pounds, which is $131 million US or 93.9 million euros. However way you spin it, it's a ton of money, with the transfer fee record practically an afterthought now. So, Real Madrid have once again become that team I call, "that squad with many names layman Americans barely recognize", only the names being different from (that traitor) Figo, Zidane, Beckham, and (Brazilian) Ronaldo to Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo. Indeed, Real Madrid's transformation of returning to their Galactico form, and perhaps they're not done spending like a conglomerate of Dubai financiers. Read my personal take on what this can mean for United, Real Madrid, and for football in general...
First off, for those who have been reading my blog, how are you doing? Been a while since I've blogged here, which was on the final Sunday of the Premier League season I reckon, and I guess I might as well fill you in on what I've been up to the last couple of weeks. I've been busy as usual, but spending a bit of time relaxing a bit, and recharging my batteries whenever I could. Unfortunately, the weather hasn't cooperated here because our world-famous May gray and June gloom (or at least us Angelenos like to think it is world-famous) won't burn off, leaving us with overcast days and last week, we had a weird bout of thunderstorms, even here on the beach, and thunderstorms, let alone rain, is a rarity in these parts. Thankfully, those are gone and while I admit I like the overcast weather, it's wearing out its welcome for lasting nearly a full day, let alone the last two or three weeks. That hasn't dampened Laker fever in the area and as custom during playoff time, I'd say about 40-50% of vehicles here have those Laker flags (some of which had been on them since 2001). Me? I'm a die-hard Laker fan, but I don't always feel compelled to attach an admittedly tacky Laker flag just to showboat my allegiances and in fact, showing a trademark Kobe Bryant scowl anywhere you go can get you free movie tickets these days (really). Nonetheless, I'm glad the Lakers are back in the finals, but of course, I wouldn't be satisfied until the Lakers win two more games to the NBA title.
Of course, a couple of weeks ago was the Champions League final and I was a bit apprehensive to go anywhere but home to watch it. Didn't hit up the local pub with the United fans nor go home to my father's place for the match where I know it's absolutely pro-Barca. Just called it a personal day, watched the game by myself on my HD big-screen, and I was watching Sky Sports coverage on Fox Soccer Channel before the game as well as MUTV on my computer. As I've grown up, I've decided to be United through and through, but I admit to having some pain of supporting against Barcelona, the team I had basically been supporting as far back as I could remember and of course, my family's choice of team. I knew it was going to be a hard day, but all I knew was I'd be happier if United won than Barca, though I would nonetheless be proud of Barca winning a historic Treble. Once Eto'o scored after dashing by Vidic and after United dominated the first ten minutes, I just felt weird, was just about silent, and in fact for the whole game, silence prevailed. Barca had their footing, Xavi and Iniesta weren't going to relinquish the ball with only Carrick to combat them, and then once Xavi delivered a pinpoint cross that Messi unusually headed in for the clinching goal, well, if I wasn't shellshocked before, clearly I was by that moment. It was a fantastic moment to see Barcelona win the Treble, but I was sure under different circumstances, I would've been happier to have seen them lift old Big Ears. I'd say I felt proud for Barca because of my Catalan roots, but more so shellshocked, as I'm sure the United lads felt that night, not so much in the way of sadness, just the prevailing feeling like they didn't know what in the world just hit them. If there ever was a day for mixed feelings, this was the one. Calls from family on La Rambla sort of didn't lift my spirits entirely although I envied them sharing their jubilation in the best place to be besides Rome that night. Later in the afternoon, my father phoned me first as consolation for United losing, and most importantly, an invitation for a fiesta he was throwing that night with friends, a few Stateside relatives, and some neighbors, some of whom have no clue what they were partying but joined because there was one. Of course, I had gone and once I had downed a few drinks, I could feel relaxed enough to celebrate just as my state was nearing on drunkenness. We ate like kings, drank like bums, and I slept in my parents' house, a tad hung over, but most of all, I called the day prior as a fantastic day at the end of the day. Later in the day we watched the big parade in Barcelona as well as the rally at Camp Nou on a computer stream that I plugged into my parents' HD set, and I could relate to little Leo Messi rambling like a drunken man on stage, wasted after a night in Vegas and after bedding two fine hookers. Once I got home, I just watched Crackovia clips on Youtube (Crackovia is a Catalan show that parodies Barcelona players, Pep Guardiola, Joan Laporta, and others) for some nice, cheap laughs. In truth, I planned on blogging my post-match reactions the day after, but that became an afterthought just as I was getting back my senses and went back to the grind.
So, here I am, back to blogging about football, although I wish the situation was a bit different, but I find that often times when you sit down and write things, you don't choose to write whatever you want, rather it's something else that makes you choose what to write about. In this case, it's a seismic thing such as Kaka, and now Ronaldo, that forces me to put pen to paper on an eventful transfer season that has just started and originally I thought the Gareth Barry switch from Aston Villa to Manchester City for relatively cheap was a big, big move. Guess not. I have a ton to say and not knowing how to say it, so I believe I'll outline my thoughts as such:
It was bound to happen...
First off, I'll start by saying it was a foregone conclusion that Ronaldo would eventually move on to Real Madrid. Before last year's transfer escapade, there have been murmurs in the past that he'd want to go to the Bernabeu at a certain point in his career, and that's fine. I can concede that many folks wouldn't pass up on the opportunity to move to Real, as they're as much of a global powerhouse as United are, and for many Latino players, going to Madrid is the end-all, be-all team for them and for Ronaldo, this was the club he dreamed of playing for, for much of his childhood. Of course, as a Catalan, Real Madrid is the "evil empire" in more ways than one, I'd roll my eyes about that thought. For me, it was never a matter of if, but when, was Cristiano Ronaldo going to move to Madrid. Was he going to do so while he's in his peak years? Was he going to make the move when he's hit that apex in his career to make the gradual egress down the decline slope? I reckon the monkey wrench in Ronaldo not moving to Madrid wasn't just then-president Ramon Calderon's testy relations with Fergie, David Gill, and company over his pursuit of Ronaldo, but the fact Real Madrid were in that phasing out of the first Galacticos side and were left with more weaknesses than they cover on the European stage despite La Liga being more than winnable. Real Madrid were a very suspect side, exploited for it on the Champions League stage, and I reckon they would still be one if they don't make a few other improvements (more on that later). At United, this was a team that was built for depth in challenging for all major fronts year in and year out. That fact was the one thing stopping Ronaldo from reiterating a desire until now to move from United to Real or at least, it was the one thing as to why he apparently sported those coming-or-going histrionics that have been typical of him. However, with Florentino Perez being re-elected as Real Madrid's president, one thing was inevitable and that was he was going to spend a dumpster's worth of cash to add some quality (and marketability) to the Madridistas again, especially in light of Barcelona being the only team in Spain to have won The Treble. Once Perez made the master stroke for Kaka, that basically clinched it for me that Ronaldo would head over to the Bernabeu. Kaka isn't necessarily what they need at Real even though he brings creative flair and a fantastic attacking talent at the heart of the park, but for the sake of having two of the world's ten best players and to buy a bid on major trophies by an exorbitant proportion, Madrid would get their dream winger. For Ronaldo, this was perhaps a well-timed jump-off point in his career to Real and no one can deny how influential he had been to United success in the last three years. For United, no player is bigger than the club and turning down 80 million quid on one player is a hard thing to turn down the second time around.
...but it's not sinking in
At the end of the day, I didn't envision United taking the deal given how the relationship with Real Madrid degraded in Calderon's dogged pursuit of Ronaldo and because of their stubborn resistance in not selling their star player for any price given the uniqueness of what Ronaldo brings to the table. What's normally lost in the love-and-hate perception of Ronaldo is his tremendous amalgam of pace, power, and skill, which is why I'd still contend he's a better player than Lionel Messi. The latter is about as perfect as a dribbler goes, in that he keeps his dribble compact, can get into the tightest of spaces with his compact dribble and pace, and his vision as well as his passing skill. Ronaldo is more of a dynamic player in the way he can beat teams through the air, with his raw pace as well as his change of direction on a dime, a passing skill set that was somewhat set aside in the past couple of seasons, and his feast-or-famine free kicks. Most of all, he's United's most important match-winner. Put the histrionics aside and look at the vital goals he scored over the past three campaigns and truth be told, the one player that put on a great showing against Barcelona, was indeed Ronaldo. On top of this, there's not a player who can replace Ronaldo, that much is certain, but for the sum of 80 million quid, the burden is to there to acquire two or three players who either add a dimension to the squad that improves the whole or bring all the qualities Ronaldo brings in separate parts. As of now, United at least have to go after either Ribery or Benzema as well as a couple of other transfers at the least to vie for the league and in Europe (more on that later).
The move for selling Ronaldo brings up more questions than answers, with question number one being is the 80 million pounds a transfer buffer while other funds are dedicated to answering the Glazer debt. Being fed up with Ronaldo's antics and finally making good on Ronaldo's request to leave is one thing - or to be very cryptic, "selling a virus" - but in light of the credit crunch and Milan's willingness to sign Kaka for their financial health, brings to mind the state of United's finances in an age where Leeds have never recovered since Peter Risdale's "living the dream" and more recently, Southampton going into administration and suffering the same League One fate. Personally, I don't think United's financial worries are that drastic nor would it amount to a cataclysmic decline, especially when United have signed a more lucrative shirt sponsorship deal with AON with respect to AIG, a few additional sales of former prospects (i.e. Fraizer Campbell, Darron Gibson) which will probably give an additional 15-20 million pounds to the transfer war chest, and a proposed hike in game tickets (again). However, this puts into light greater transparency with the supporters as to the financial state with the club. There's also that slight concern that Real Madrid are going to pay the 80 million in installments, not a lump sum, which of course makes sense in this down global economy on Madrid's part. Let's hope it's not a case of Jaap Stam's move to Lazio where it amounted to United taking Lazio to court over unpaid transfer funds.
On a personal note, I reckon it's natural to feel like even if this move was anticipated, it hasn't sunken in as reality. Basically, the same feeling I felt two weeks back when United lost in relatively disappointing fashion to Barca has arisen again. For those United fans who are thinking good riddance to a petulant twit, at the end of the day, Ronaldo's contributions will be missed and should be appreciated. In principle, anyone playing for United should have more pride for the shirt than he's exhibited in his behavior in his time at Old Trafford, but I think when it's all said and done, what he's provided to the club in his stay here will be looked upon more kindly (more on that later).
Where do United go from here?
Last Summer, I ran into an expatriate United fan at a pub I seldom patronize but for the heck of it I drank there, although in general, I rarely go to the pubs in the offseason or even in a Euro year. Well, at any rate, this United fan was one of those really disgusted with Ronaldo's request to leave to the point he should've been sold for the 80 million quid and go out and buy three players in particular: Bayern Munich's Franck Ribery, Lyon's Karim Benzema, and Roma's Daniele de Rossi. He had a great point, but like I've said already, it's difficult to replace Ronaldo, not just because of his one-off skill set, rather it's because it's difficult to turn that 80 million quid into a three-headed monster that will add the same or more of a dimension as Ronaldo would on top of what's established at Old Trafford. It doesn't help matters when 80 million quid won't be enough to get all three if their clubs are so adamant to sell those players at "the right price". Letting Ronaldo walk for a handsome wad of cash would be further reason to ratchet up the asking price. If anything, it should've been 100 million pounds or no sale. I don't dispute the timing of Ronaldo's sale because it is better he was sold now than last year and definitely better than it would be a few years down the line. However, United still have to compete with Real Madrid for one or two of those high-profile names and don't forget Barcelona, who are going to make a few tweaks to their current squad. By tweaks, I mean, letting Samuel Eto'o go, replace him with David Villa, and go after one of Ribery or Benzema depending on if they can clinch Villa (I think Barca are the frontrunner to get him, more on that in a bit). Then, there's Manchester City, who have actually made a surprisingly good move in acquiring Gareth Barry for 12 million quid (I believe that's the price) and they're probably in the market for Eto'o among others. Chelsea are also involved in the market, but Villa and Ribery declined their offers.
What is for certain is Fergie should return to the 4-4-2 formation, which would certainly entail Wayne Rooney moving back into a central forward role. Rooney has been an absolute world-beater in goal scoring terms for England and while he was a good lad in sacrificing himself to play on the wing and track back more than what was originally expected, Rooney should be better served in a true striker role. Another thing that should be set in stone is the likelihood of Carlos Tevez not being signed with United. I've discussed in the past as to why Tevez shouldn't be signed for a lack of pace and a first touch not quite making up for what he provides in energy; signing Tevez by Kia Joorabchian's steep price is sunken cost. Another backup striker would be nice, but not at one with limited skill set and a frivolous price tag (by which I mean Berbatov standards).
The one biggest gripe I have with this Ronaldo move is how dependent United are on him to both create and score goals. United aren't quite a "one-man" team as some say, in the sense of Liverpool being a "two-man" team in Gerrard and Torres, but again, this goes back to Ronaldo's rare skill set and his ability to take over a game, as cliche as that sounds. Spending 40-50 million pounds on Franck Ribery almost sounds essential for the pace he brings; it's just that he isn't a prolific goal scorer nor does he have the power Ronaldo possesses. I've heard the words, "perfect replacement" go around with Ribery in accordance to Ronaldo and while I rate Ribery highly, he simply isn't quite that game-changing player. How about a bargain winger then? Say, Antonio Valencia from Wigan, or Aston Villa's Ashley Young, or Valencia's David Silva, a winger Liverpool have been pining for some time and of course, there's the distinct possibility of going in-house, developing Zoran Tosic to fill in. I reckon the smartest thing would be to acquire Valencia for 15 million (which some argue is a tad high) and reserve the 40-45 million on Benzema, who's about the closest thing to Ronaldo than Ribery is (on second thought, Chile's Alexis Sanchez's game is very similar to Ronaldo's and hasn't done too badly at Udinese). The problem is, Benzema and Ribery prefer playing in Spain and Benzema in particular has about the same ego and temperament as Ronaldo to some degree. Don't come looking for David Villa, who has said in the past that even if Valencia must force their hand and sell Villa, he's sticking around in Spain, at either Real Madrid or Barcelona. I tend to think Villa suits Barcelona better in Eto'o's stead than Zlatan Ibrahimovic, but that's another story altogether.
If there's one thing that rose to the fore from the Champions League final loss to Barcelona, it's two things: the need for a unified system that United can implement each game and the need for a decisive first-choice midfield. The last point is more important because the squad mentality stems from the fact Fergie has his share of plug-and-play options at the heart of the park. Fergie can choose any permutation of Anderson, Scholes, Carrick, Fletcher, Giggs, and Hargreaves. The problem lies in the depth being otherwise an illusion of sorts. For one thing, Scholes and Giggs are both on their last legs, in particular, Scholes who still has that vision intact, but simply he's getting up there in age, and there's a need for United to replace his vision/retention skills. However, there's one guy I could think of off the top of my head who fits that profile and who can jell in that role and that would be Xavi, and he's just about a lifer at Barcelona. Giggs deserves credit for reinventing himself as a central mid, but like Scholes, even if he's been able to roll back the years, I think he'll be more of a second-choice option this time around. Now, the meat and potatoes bit of it here... While Darren Fletcher had proven to be United's most important player down the stretch with his workrate and pressing, I wouldn't have thought he and Carrick would've been able to keep the ball off the likes of Xavi/Iniesta in the European Cup final. What's more, while it's too much to ask for a Roy Keane replacement in earnest, United having a box-to-box runner and a destroyer in the middle of the park would be ideal. Unfortunately, United got suckered into overpaying the walking wounded named Owen Hargreaves, which then brings up the thought of getting a partner to Carrick who can bring those same qualities and can actually stay on the pitch much longer. Daniele de Rossi more than fits the bill here and while he's been loyal to Roma, now is the time to pony up a big-time bid for de Rossi especially in light of Roma missing out on Champions League football next year. What complicates things is Real Madrid's supposed pursuit of de Rossi, but at the outset, I thought de Rossi was a priority with or without Ronaldo, as this would better facilitate the backline of Rio and Vidic while making the best of Carrick's ability to marshal the United attack. If de Rossi isn't available, then perhaps the cut-rate option is Villarreal's Marcos Senna, who besides Xavi, was Spain's most important player in Euro 2008. There's also word that Barcelona's Yaya Toure could be available for 15 million pounds and he's a strong on-the-ball, skilled holding midfielder that fits the bill as well.
In short, replacing Ronaldo will be very difficult when you have the likes of Ribery, Benzema, and de Rossi intent on playing elsewhere, which makes an 80 million pound purse a moot point. Unfortunately, United haven't made smart signings at the right price in the past, which will mean more overpaying to make up the Ronaldo void. In a perfect world, United should've kept Ronaldo, add Zenit St. Petersburg's Pavel Pogrebnyak for relatively cheap on a free transfer (an out-and-out striker to make up for depth lost in Tevez), and try to go balls-out on de Rossi. Now that Ronaldo leaving is set in stone, in a perfect world, the signings should be Valencia/David Silva, Benzema, and de Rossi/Senna/Yaya, leaving Rafael or Fabio to take up the left-back position, to make the move on Pobgrenyak and in either case, to open a first-team spot for Danny Welbeck or Kiko Macheda.
What does this make Real Madrid?
On the flip side of the coin, did Real Madrid actually improve in getting Kaka and Ronaldo to the Bernabeu for almost 140 million pounds? Yes, obviously, but no, I don't believe they'll win anything this year (at the least the Primera and the Champions League) assuming the current squad and it all depends on the Madridistas' next moves. Quite frankly, do Real care? In the first Galacticos era, most punctuated by the Beckham move, global marketability was just as important as on-the-pitch success. In short, what Dubai have done in building massive skyscrapers, indoor ski parks, and in digging islands out of the Persian Gulf to get tourists and investment is exactly what Real Madrid have done, who invest in famous names known the world over to a certain degree (and that includes us lucky folks in the football-apathetic United States) so they can pump out all kinds of player-related and team merchandise to markets where Spanish isn't necessarily the first language of choice nor is there an understanding of Spanish culture. Real Madrid was something of a merchandising machine in the first Galactico age and you can bet the new "it" item in much of the world is either a Kaka Real Madrid shirt or a Ronaldo one. What about on the pitch? Well, my take is, Real were loaded with attacking players up there in age the first time around, but the silver lining is, they have Ronaldo, who is just entering his prime and now that he has a full Summer to recover, one can't underestimate him in returning to full glorious form, to which I believe will happen. However, going through Real Madrid's defense, as the joke goes, was and is a lot like passing by traffic cones, more or less commenting on how Michel Salgado is slow and how overrated Sergio Ramos is at the art of defending, more than his trade of going forward. Unless the Madridistas improve at the back, they'll be a team who figure to try and outscore others, they will fall short to Barcelona again and on the European stages. In fact, this Galactico era is beginning like the previous one ended, with so many attackers on their side. Real Madrid are even rumored to swoop in for David Villa. Where does that leave Gonzalo Higuain who was a revelation when Ruud van Nistelrooy was injured? Methinks Higuain has earned his keep starting, but where does that leave Raul? van Nistelrooy? Klaas Jan-Huntelaar!? Then you have a pseudo-winger in Wesley Sneijder, Arjen Robben, Rafael van der Vaart, especially if Ronaldo is played on the wing although I hear Manuel Pellegrini would opt Ronaldo as another striker. Even Kaka himself has had knee trouble since his World Player of the Year campaign a couple of seasons ago and hasn't been quite as explosive as one would associate him to be. In all, this is a team that looks like a fantasy side, but without defensive balance, Real Madrid won't win any silverware this coming term at the very least.
On a side note, I think the New York Yankees analogy gets old in trying to compare football teams to say, other American sport teams, like Alexi Lalas tends to do, which sort of miffs me when analysts here Stateside refer to Manchester United, Juventus, and Bayern Munich as "the Yankees" of England, Italy, and Germany respectively. Sure, each have had a history of spending big, but the key difference is in this day and age, they haven't bought their team quite like Real Madrid have done. Yes, not even Roman Abramovich's plaything has done the kind of pornographic proportion of buying like Real have, though they do come in second. So, there you have it, The Evil Empire, Real Madrid, strikes back.
Ronaldo's Legacy at Old Trafford
If you come to my house, there's a hidden feature I call the "dustbin". Well, it's not really hidden nor is this dustbin really a dustbin at all, it's just a cabinet I designate wherever I lived where I keep jerseys I don't wear, never to see the light of day again. Here lies a Real Madrid David Beckham jersey, that my mom as one sick joke (she's not Catalan, by the way) gave me for a birthday present. I know it's a joke, but you just don't give a Barcelona man a Real Madrid shirt on any occasion, period. One of my ex-girlfriends is a die-hard Arsenal fan and she gave me a few Arsenal kits in the past, one as a practical joke (that in itself is a long story too). While they looked nice, I never bothered wearing them, save a few times around the house if I was ever lazy to wash my shirts but really, I wouldn't want to appear in an Arsenal shirt anywhere even though I don't have a beef with Arsenal at all. There's a Luis Figo Barcelona shirt somewhere in there, which has been permanent there ever since the day he transferred over to Real and shoot, there's even a novelty Shaq-sized Shaquille O'Neal Lakers jersey I've put there when he was dealt from the Lakers to the Miami Heat in 2004, which I once dubbed "the summer from hell", more so had Kobe actually signed a contract with those icky "cross-town" neighbors, the Clippers. Today goes my Ronaldo shirt to the dustbin once I woke up to the news this morning and I reckon so would my handsome black away kit with Carlos Tevez's name on it should he go to either Liverpool or Manchester City.
Cristiano Ronaldo probably didn't leave United on affable terms and surely he wouldn't be on the wavelength of Best, Cantona, and Keane as personal favorites with whom the most hardline fans related to, no matter their past misgivings. To a certain extent, Ronaldo had the larger-than-life ego that Cantona and Keane carried on their business with, but the key difference Ronnie seemed like the poster child of the modern-day "bling bling" player, not the kind of player who quite had his heart set on being a Red through and through. One of the better reads I came across on assessing the Ronaldo transfer is the London Times' Oliver Kay's analysis on the matter and someone in the article compared Ronaldo's stay as follows: "A rocky marriage, but the sex was great". Alright, it's not to be taken in the literal sense like a bunch of giggling 12 year-olds would, but there's a great deal of truth in it. Often times, a player is remembered not for what he did on the pitch or what was won on their club's trophy shelves but rather he's remembered for three things: the way he carried himself, the way he made fans feel, and the way or the reason as to why he left in the first place. A few years from now, United fans will remember Cristiano Ronaldo in the way they remember David Beckham, with the first thoughts coming of how great of a career he had (in spite of the Derek Jeter comparison that gets thrown about him in an American sporting context) and not for the infamous boot room incident.
In my mind, I'll always remember the 2006/07 season first when I think of Ronaldo. United were in a transitional period of sorts, fresh off of Glazer buying them, as well as Roy Keane and Ruud van Nistelrooy wearing out their welcomes eventually. Aside from one Carling Cup, an FA Cup victory in 2004, and the wholly disappointing FA Cup defeat the following year to Arsenal where United outplayed them only to lose it, it was essentially Chelsea being the team to beat, in the prime of Jose Mourinho's boring, tactical chess match football. I remember the day Ruud moved onto the Bernabeu and a question popped up, a question that often times provokes a grin and a chuckle, "Where are the goals going to come from?" Of course, this was also the Summer where Ronaldo hit his stride in the 2006 World Cup, only for Portugal to bow out of the semifinals from Zidane rolling back the years and France, not before the "wink" that got Rooney sent off. The 5-1 demolition of Fulham in the season opener filled the season with great optimism, for free-flowing, attacking football that hadn't been apparent with Ruud slowing the line in prior years, but of course, the concerns were apparent, to ask if a streamlined United could actually do something meaningful on the domestic front, nevermind Europe. As the weeks and months wore on, it was a coming-of-age year for Ronaldo and for United in general, as it was great to see the new version of United outperform the well-tempered expectations and come close to a Treble campaign of sorts. Of course, the next year was the 42-goal campaign which in contrast to 06/07, made United much more reliant on Ronaldo and rose his game to new heights, but it was that 06/07 season that was more personally gratifying to see United, and notably Ronaldo, reveal they had a team that were beyond van Nistelrooy and could cope just fine without another guy to step into Roy Keane's boots per se and win a league title. Three Premier League titles in a row, one European Cup, one Carling Cup, and another Club World Cup championship. Granted, three years of Ronaldo hitting into his prime might not be enough for him to be remembered as a United legend per se, as spoken for the likes of Keane, Ryan Giggs, or Sir Bobby Charlton, but it's reason to not keep that shirt in the dustbin. Shoot, eventually I took my handsome blue Manchester United Ruud van Nistelrooy shirt out of the dustbin and it's permanently back in my closet. So is my Shaq jersey although I'd look silly wearing a Shaq-sized Laker jersey. All wounds are healed enough to wear them again or if not, for them to see the light of day again. For personal reasons, the fact he suits up for Real Madrid is enough to keep that Ronaldo shirt in the dustbin, but once time heals the pain of all this, it'll be safe to put that Ronnie shirt out there to see the light of day again.
Did you know?
Apparently, one of my friends spotted Ronaldo at a night club in Beverly Hills a few nights ago and he phoned me, saying something like "I see Cristiano Ronaldo here. Want me to ask for an autograph for you?" I shrugged, not really caring, and said, "OK, whatever." Figured he signed a white table napkin, which was a nice foreshadowing. Guess where that napkin had gone? Not the dust bin, but close: the trash bin.
Keep your clothes on, people...
-Ray
